Credant staying upwardly mobile

The increasingly mobile work force is creating new problems for company security managers.

They're facing challenges unheard of in years past, because workers have the ability to download millions of dollars worth of company secrets onto mobile devices -- and sometimes leave them behind in airport coffee shops.

The growing awareness of security issues as well as the skyrocketing growth in the number of wireless devices in use is fueling growth at Addison-based Credant Technologies, which provides tools to help companies manage security on mobile devices. The company employs about 60 people, including 47 locally.

From a company's standpoint, wireless devices pose several security challenges, said Credant CEO Bob Heard. First, the devices are mobile. Second, they are often owned not by the company but by the worker. And third, the devices differ by manufacturer and operating system.

Solutions

Companies are finding their existing security solutions, which were designed with desktop computers in mind, don't apply to mobile devices and many are looking to Credant for a solution.

Credant's products operate on three levels: To centralize control via a company's server; as a gatekeeper to allow the company to see how many devices are in use and who is using them; and by placing security software on the actual devices.

Opportunity

That means if a device is lost, the person who finds it will be unable to use it to access the company's network or the information contained on that particular device. The device can be remotely locked down or the data wiped out.

"It's a huge opportunity for us, as these devices become more pervasive," Heard said. As a result, the company's revenue is more than doubling each year and it expects to be cash-flow positive by the third quarter of 2005.

It has created partnerships with large tech companies that allow them to install the software on the devices they manufacture or to resell the security software.

Austin Ventures, Intel Capital and Menlo Ventures all are investors in Credant, which was founded just six days after the 9/11 attacks.